Inositol phosphate accumulation on carbachol stimulation of rat cerebellar granule cells shows a marked dependence on factors affecting cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c). After 5 min, potassium depolarisation caused a modest accumulation of inositol phosphates but augmented the response to carbachol by a factor of 2–3. These effects of potassium were dependent on an extracellular source of calcium and could be partially blocked by specific (nifedipine) and nonspecific (verapamil) calcium channel blockers. Measurements of [Ca2+]c under a range of stimulatory conditions demonstrated a close correlation between the elevation of [Ca2+]c and agonist‐stimulated phospholipase C (PLC) activity. The maximal potentiation of carbachol‐stimulated inositol phosphate accumulation was achieved using 20 mM KCl, which increased [Ca2+]c from ∼20 to ∼75 nM, indicating the involvement of relatively low threshold Ca2+ channels and the high sensitivity of the relevant PLC to small changes in [Ca2+]c. By contrast, increases in [Ca2+]c induced by the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin were associated with more modest and less potent effects on agonist‐stimulated PLC. These results demonstrate a cooperative interaction between a receptor/G protein‐regulated PLC and voltage‐stimulated elevations of [Ca2+]c, which may function to integrate ionotropic and metabotropic signalling mechanisms in cerebellar granule cells.

Rat cerebellar granule cells in primary culture possess muscarinic, metabotropic glutamatergic, histaminergic and alpha-adrenergic receptors which couple to phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C. We have determined the ability of these receptors to elevate inositol(1,4,5)trisphosphate and to release intracellular calcium, in order to establish the correlation between these two responses. In resting cerebellar granule cells, only the muscarinic agonist carbachol evoked significant increases in both inositol(1,4, 5)trisphosphate and cytoplasmic free Ca2+. Mild depolarization (20 mM KCl) enhanced inositol(1,4,5)trisphosphate elevation by carbachol and histamine, but not by noradrenaline or the metabotropic glutamate agonist 1S,3R ACPD. In contrast, Ca2+-release responses were modified differently by 20 mM KCl-depolarization: the responses to carbachol, histamine and 1S,3R ACPD, but not the responses to noradrenaline, were markedly enhanced. The contribution of ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+-release channels (ryanodine receptors) to the calcium release signal in depolarized cells was determined. Ryanodine (10 microM) inhibited most effectively the cytoplasmic Ca2+ elevation evoked by 1S,3R ACPD (> 90%), while Ca2+ release upon stimulation by carbachol and histamine was only inhibited by approximately 60% and remained larger than in the absence of KCl. Our data are consistent with a specific coupling between metabotropic glutamate receptors and ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+-release channels which may not require generation of inositol(1, 4,5)trisphosphate.

In rat sympathetic neurones, a major electrophysiological consequence of activation of M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors is the inhibition of a non-inactivating time-and voltage-dependent K¤ current, the M_current (IK(M)), with a resultant slow depolarisation and a dramatic increase in

1 The pharmacological pro®le of metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) activation of phospholipase D (PLD), and the associated signalling pathways, were examined in rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes. The assay was conducted using a transphosphatidylation reaction in synaptosomes which were pre-labelled with either [ 3 H]-arachidonic acid or [ 32 P]-orthophosphate. 2 The mGluR agonists (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (1S,3R-ACPD) and (RS)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG), both activated PLD, while phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) treatment caused receptor-independent activation of PLD and had an additive e ect on 1S,3R-ACPD induced PLD activity. 3 A protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, GF109203X, failed to antagonize mGluR receptor-coupled PLD activity. We could not detect any increase in the products of PI (phosphoinositide)-speci®c phospholipase C (PI-PLC), inositol(1,4,5)trisphosphate or diacylglycerol, by 1S, 3R-ACPD at 15 s. However, diacylglycerol increased monophasically in response to mGluR agonists and remained elevated for at least 15 min. Phosphatidic acid phosphohydrolase (PAP) activity, which converts PA to DAG, was present in the synaptosomes. 4 These data suggest that, in rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes, the 1S,3R-ACPD-sensitive mGluR is coupled to PLD through a mechanism that is independent of both PKC and PI-PLC.